A chimney fire caused significant damage to a Barrington home near the Strafford town line early Sunday morning.

Frantic efforts to douse the fire were unable to stop the flames from spreading in the home on Berry River Road.

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“She was filling buckets. I was up on the roof pouring them in,” said Kevin Poitras, a neighbor.

The fire started just before 5 a.m.

“Crews got on scene, made a relatively quick knockdown. There was extensive damage in and around the chimney area of the home, first flood, and did get into the second floor with the water and smoke damage throughout,” said Chief Rick Walker of the Barrington Fire Department.

Dona Sprague, the mother of the woman living in the home, said a smoke detector woke her daughter, who was able to get her dog out and tried to keep the fire from spreading until crews arrived.

“Scared the heck out of me,” Sprague said. “I was so glad she got out and the dog. She and the dog got out safe, that’s what counts. That’s more important than anything else.”

Damage to the outside of the home was minimal, but the inside was a charred and water-logged mess.

Firefighters had to get through mud to get to the blaze.

“The road in a few spots is pretty soft, a lot of potholes, so we really had to go pretty slow getting in there,” Walker said. “It took us five or six minutes once we got to the road to get into the scene.”

“The fire department in Barrington gets here as fast as they can with this horrible road and the whole bit. They did great. I think they’re wonderful,” Sprague said.